


scout's honour

by stutteringpeach



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, i literally have no clue what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 07:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19102198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stutteringpeach/pseuds/stutteringpeach
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Gendrya, competitive neighbours.It had gone too far. Rickon was openly bawling now, but his poor little hands were still shovelling boxes of cookies into bags as he sobbed. Arya should have been ashamed at pushing her little brother to the point of tears but victory was nearly within their grasp.





	scout's honour

‘Come on Rickon, bag them faster!’

It had gone too far. Rickon was openly bawling now, but his poor little hands were still shovelling boxes of cookies into bags as he sobbed. Arya should have been ashamed at pushing her little brother to the point of tears but victory was nearly within their grasp.  _ So close!  _ Just roughly another fifty boxes and she was  _ positive  _ that they’d beat their rivals.

Their rivals were at a table set up on the lawn of the next house over and clearly had a better system going than Arya and Rickon’s method of haphazardly throwing boxes into bags and shoving them at people, grabbing handfuls of cash and coins. There was some sort of relay going on between Shireen, Rickon’s fellow Dragon Scout and her cousin, Gendry. The little girl had a look of fierce determination on her face and she was shouting commands at the broad man next to her, whose jaw was set with concentration at the task at hand.

It started off innocently: Rickon had come home from Dragon Scouts one day and announced there was a competition to see who could sell the most cookies. The winner got to open the park on the Scouts’ trip to the Dragon Pit Theme Park next month. Arya’s parents had cooed and each of the siblings had bought a box from Rickon to get him started - lemon biscuits for Sansa, raspberry thumbprints for Robb, oatmeal and raisin for Bran, coconut snowflakes for Jon and wolf wafers for Arya. Rickon had bribed her with a free box if she took him round the neighbourhood. The cookies were so-so but Rickon was cute and her dad was paying her ten gold dragons so Arya dutifully waited at the end of driveways as her little brother knocked on doors and flogged biscuits to their neighbours. Rickon had been delighted, happily adding up the numbers and logging the boxes sold on his order sheet. But it didn’t last long. The youngest Stark returned home from Wolf Scouts two days later despondent.

‘Shireen has already sold fifty!’ he cried with a trembling lip and tears in his eyes. ‘I’m never going to be able to catch her now!’

‘Jeez, they’re just cookies, Rickon,’ Arya said, rolling her eyes.

‘Arya,’ their mother said warningly. Turning to Rickon she said, ‘That’s a lot of boxes, sweetie, but I’m sure you can catch up.’

‘Yeah, is she selling these things on the black market?’ Robb sniggered.

‘She said her cousin is helping her,’ Rickon sniffed pitifully. ‘It’s not in the rules! It’s not fair!’

‘Her cousin?’ Arya asked. ‘Which cousin?’

‘Gendry,’ Bran piped up. ‘He’s home for the summer.’

Arya narrowed her eyes. Gendry Baratheon was the eldest son of her father’s best friend and also happened to be their neighbour. Stupidly their fathers had decided it would be a marvellous idea to buy houses next to each other (ignoring the fact that their wives despised each other). Gendry was the same age as Jon, rowed crew for the University of King’s Landing and had grown up to be pretty much the most arrogant git in Westeros. She’ll just ignore the raging crush she had on him growing up.

He’d been mates with Robb, Jon and Theon throughout high school and sixth form, the four of them running round the neighbourhood getting into trouble. They’d always let little Arry tag along, but being five years younger, he was her brothers’ friend more than hers. He left for college when she was thirteen and young Arya was surprised to find that she noticed how when he came home each summer his shoulders were a little bigger, his arms a little thicker, his jaw a little more defined. Eventually he’d stopped coming home each summer and Arya had grown out of her school-girl crush.

‘Well if they can cheat, so can we,’ Arya growled, pushing back her chair and standing up. She stomped out of the front door, Rickon jumping up and down and clapping his hands in glee. Arya marched up to the house next door and rapped firmly on the front door.

Gendry answered. Arya had forgotten just how large he was. He leaned his mass upon the door frame. ‘Hello there,’ he drawled, his blue eyes twinkling. Out of nowhere he produced a wolf wafer and took a bite. ‘Have you come to buy some cookies?’

‘You’re cheating,’ Arya accused.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lady Stark,’ he said nonchalantly.

‘Don’t call me that. How are you selling so many?’ Arya demanded.

‘An excellent sales pitch?’ Gendry smirked.

‘Bullshit. There’s no way you can sell fifty boxes in 48 hours in this neighbourhood. The market is saturated.’

‘Seriously?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘The market is saturated?’

‘Just tell me how you’re selling them so fast!’

Gendry hesitated. ‘We may have made a stop at the dorms.’

‘The dorms?’ Arya was confused.

‘Yeah.’

‘So you sell them to the kids at the uni?’

A slow grin spread across his face. ‘I sell them to the _ baked  _ kids at the uni.’

Realisation dawned across Arya’s face. Of course. Getting high and eating snacks. It was the perfect business model: nowhere could there be a higher demand for Dragon Scout cookies than the uni dorms, where there was an endless supply of weed smokers in need of delicious snacks to satisfy the munchies. 

‘That’s- that’s-’

‘Genius?’ he said smugly.

‘It’s unethical!’ Arya burst out. ‘ _ Fuck.  _ Why didn’t I think of that?’

Gendry shrugged. ‘Natural business acumen. Don’t worry about it. Maybe Shireen will let Rickon drop the banner with her when she opens the park.’

Arya jammed a finger into his chest. ‘You. Me. The street party. The sales deadline is at 7pm on the last day of the month, right? Whoever sells the most cookies wins.’

Gendry crossed his rowers arms over his chest and smirked down at her. ‘Why would I do that? We’ve already got you beaten. There’s no way you can catch up with us now.’

‘Wanna bet? You know my sister Sansa, right? Tall, gorgeous, giant stick up her perfectly waxed arse?’ It was Arya’s time to smirk. ‘Well, she happens to be captain of the dance team, head girl and she’s the longest serving volunteer at the children’s hospital. You think you can compete with the herd mentality, the brains of a future dictator and a hospital full of sick kids?’

Gendry at least had the decency to look a little unsettled.

Arya grinned and turned on her heel. ‘Maybe Rickon can let Shireen sit at the front of the monorail with  _ him.’  _ She stomped off back to her house. She was going to gather the troops and draw up a battle plan. She idly wondered if she could convince Robb to let her borrow one of the police helicopters to do some cookie drops. Probably not.

‘Hey, Stark, wait up,’ Gendry called, jogging to meet her halfway down the driveway. ‘Why don’t we make this a little more interesting?’

‘How?’

‘How about a wager?’

‘A bet?’ Arya raised an eyebrow.

‘Sure,’ Gendry grinned. Arya tried to ignore the way his eyes crinkled in the corners.

‘What are the terms?’

He thought for a moment. ‘If you win, you can have my car for a month.’

Tempting. Gendry had a pretty excellent vintage Mustang that he’d spent two summers restoring. Arya had just passed her driving test.

‘And if I lose?’

Gendry attempted to conceal a smirk. ‘You have to go for a drink with me.’

Arya snorted. ‘Hilarious.’

‘I’m serious.’

Arya stared at him incredulously. ‘Like… a date?’

He nodded.

‘In a bar?’

‘Yup.’

‘Gendry. I’m seventeen.’

‘So?’

‘I can’t get into a bar. It’s illegal.’

‘Like that’s stopped you before. But I am interested that you being underage is the only reason you wouldn’t go for a drink with me.’

Arya scowled. Theon and Robb used to tease her mercilessly about her crush on Gendry and to his part he’d never actually brought it up. But he was now. He was playing a fucking game with her, the wanker. Well, then, she’d fucking show him. She’d sell hundreds of boxes of cookies and spend the rest of the summer driving really recklessly in his car and crunching the gears.

‘Why not,’ she said carelessly. ‘It’ll be worth it just to rub victory in your smug face.’

They shook hands and the bet was on.

And that was how they’d arrived here, at the annual street party, Rickon hysterical and Arya shouting furiously at him over the warbles of Luther Vandross on the big stereo Robb and Theon had set up. The street was full of families around the neighbourhood, barbecuing and drinking beer, kids playing catch and street hockey. 

Arya had rallied the Starks to Rickon’s cause and as always, they had responded gallantly. Rickon had stomped around his parents’ places of work in his Dragon Scouts uniform, receiving coos from those who thought he was adorable and making quite a few sales. Bran had started selling them during lunch at school and had drawn up an algorithm detailing how many they would need to sell by the end of the month if Shireen continued at her current rate. Jon had just broken up with his girlfriend and was drowning his sorrows with every box of coconut snowflakes Rickon could supply. Robb had heard the terms of the bet (‘No fucking way is that bastard taking my underage sister to a fucking bar on a fucking date’) and had bought thirty boxes to take to the police station. He came back the next day requesting more raspberry thumbprints - apparently they were a hit with Sargeant Tarth.

Sansa had come through on her promise to rally the dance team (after Arya threatened to tell Robb how Sansa had accidentally-on-purpose hooked up with Theon last month. Twice.). Thirteen identical, conventionally gorgeous girls with the same haircut had turned up in tiny white and red spandex uniforms and were currently performing back handsprings and cartwheels and some extremely promiscuous dance moves on the front lawn of the Stark house, much to Mr Stark’s dismay. They had drawn quite a large crowd of the neighbourhood’s male population (and some female) and as a result Arya and Rickon had pretty steady business. Sansa had also taken Rickon on her latest round at the children’s hospital and Arya had been slightly horrified to discover just how much money they’d made. (‘Hospitals are great business. Sick kids love cookies and their parents are comfort eating. Strike while the entrepreneurial iron is hot,’ Sansa had shrugged. Arya swore that girl was bound for a top job at a pharmaceutical company.) Sansa had even convinced Coach Lannister that the nutritional value of Dragon Scout cookies was optimal for athletic performance and recovery and the dumb blonde coach had of course believed her and ordered 100 boxes.

‘They’ve sold 256 boxes,’ Bran reported, rolling to a stop in front of their makeshift stand. He’d been doing recon for them, taking full advantage of his ‘sick wheelchair kid’ act to get some insider info. ‘But they’re running low on stock.’

‘Shit,’ Arya swore. It was 6.45. ‘We need to sell at least another fifty to beat them. And we’ve only got fifteen minutes.’ 

‘Gonna admit defeat, Stark?’ Gendry called across the lawn.

‘You fucking wish, Baratheon!’ Arya shouted back. 

The crowd in front of their table was dwindling. They needed some new customers, and fast. Someone caught her eye.

‘Sandor!’ Arya’s fight club mentor had showed up for some gods-forsaken reason. ‘I need you to buy fifty boxes!’

‘Fuck off, I don’t want any fucking cookies.’ He was lying. He’d plowed his way through a box of lemon biscuits over the course of one workout a few days before.

‘If you buy them I won’t tell anyone it only took me 46 seconds to disarm you last week.’

He growled and snatched up the remaining boxes of lemon biscuits. 

They won, mainly in part to Arya threatening Sandor and promising to pay him back out of her own money if he bought the remaining boxes of cookies. It wasn’t cheating if she bought them through a proxy, right? One of the Dragon Scout leaders had showed up to the street party having heard about the competition through Rickon and Shireen and was there to verify that Rickon and Arya had indeed sold more boxes that Shireen and Gendry. Rickon had nearly wet himself in his excitement and had given Arya the biggest hug his tiny arms could manage.

‘Thank you thank you thank you!’ he cried, his pale blue eyes brimming with tears.

Arya grinned down at him and ruffled his hair. ‘So, who are you gonna take with you?’

Rickon looked at her like she was crazy. ‘Duh. Shireen.’

Arya laughed. ‘You were going to ask her all along, weren’t you?’

‘Of course,’ Rickon said indignantly. ‘She’s my best friend.’

‘So why did we go to all that effort to win?’

‘Because,’ Rickon sighed in all of his twelve year old wisdom, ‘I wanted to be the one to ask her to come with me. On a date.’

He skipped off happily to the Baratheon house and Arya was left stunned. Her twelve year old brother had more romantic prospects that she did. What a depressing thought.

‘I suppose congratulations are in order.’

She turned to see Gendry sloping towards her, his hands clasped behind his back. 

‘I guess these are yours.’ He flipped a set of keys towards her. She snatched them out of the air. 

‘Why thank you. I look dragging the brakes downhill and shifting from drive to reverse before stopping.’

Gendry winced.

‘You put in a good fight there, Baratheon. But you fell at the first hurdle. You were acting on your own, you had no backup, no support.  _ The lone wolf dies, but the pack-’ _

‘The pack survives, yeah, yeah, I know.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘You Starks are all fucking nuts.’ 

‘Starks are winners.’

Gendry smiled at her, running his fingers through his hair. ‘Well, losing this bet fucking sucks.’

Arya rolled her eyes. ‘It’s just a month. You can take the bus.’

‘I’m not disappointed about the car, Arya.’

She paused. ‘What?’

‘I’m not disappointed about giving you my car for a month.’

‘You’re not?’

‘No.’

‘You’re mad because you lost?’

‘That. Mostly because I was looking forward to taking you on a date.’

She scowled at him. ‘Shut up.’

‘I’m serious.’

‘Stop fucking around, Gendry, I’m going to break your nose.’

The bastard had the nerve to laugh. ‘While I don’t doubt that you would because I’ve seen you in fight club, I can assure you, Arya, I am not kidding.’

Arya stared at him. 

‘Come on, Arya,’ Gendry laughed. ‘I knew you had a crush on me growing up. How could I not, with Theon and Robb always teasing you about it? ’

‘You never said anything!’

‘I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed! And you’re Robb and Jon’s little sister, it was cute.’

She folded her arms over her chest. ‘So you’re bringing it up now to make fun of me?,’ Arya hissed. ‘Nice.’ She started to stalk past him but he grabbed her arm and swung her back to face him.

‘You didn’t let me finish.’ His fingers were hot on the bare skin of her arm. ‘I realised things had changed the summer before last. Remember when I was home for my dad’s stupid annual hog carving? We hadn’t seen each other for a while and then we hung out a few times and you’d, like, lost all the shyness you used to have around me. It was like I wasn’t just your brothers’ friend anymore, we were friends and we got on so well and had the same taste in music. But you were fifteen you know? I thought I was doing the right thing by waiting.’

‘Waiting until what?’

‘Until you were old enough.’ 

Arya swallowed thickly.

‘But then I came home last summer and you were dating that blonde prick and I lost it. I realised you weren’t just the little girl next door to me anymore. That white bikini top you kept wearing might have had something to do with that too.’ He chuckled. 

Arya let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. ‘I’m seventeen.’

‘I’m aware. Eighteen in two months.’

‘You’re twenty two.’

‘Also, well aware.’

'Robb and Jon will kill you.'

Gendry grinned. 'I'm willing to take that risk.'

Arya eyed him carefully. He didn’t appear to be messing with her. In fact, he seemed quite serious. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him so serious. 

Over his shoulder she saw Rickon giggling with Shireen.

‘Gendry?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I’m gonna need your car on Friday night.’

Gendry sighed. ‘Fine.’

‘Great. Because I’m taking you on a date.’


End file.
